Up, and at ‘em. So did a Loudred shout through the camp. For Blitzer, who wasn’t a fan of being shouted awake to begin with, that voice might as well have been a form of torture. Getting up, wandering around the cabin in a daze, washing his face and having to show up for another day. Alas, such was life.
Said military camp is where he, Sisu and Sefonia had been assigned to. Vli, Dritch’s birdbrained assistant, had picked it out for them. Why she was so comfortable with him calling the shots, Blitzer could only guess. For a Toucannon, his hawkishness to religion was something else. Stubborn, harsh, strict. His word was final, and thus at the camp they stayed.
Not that Dritch would’ve given it a second lookover. She hadn’t shown herself to Blitzer for a week. Nor Sefonia, or even Sisu, for that matter. Given the situation at hand, she had all the excuses she needed. Up north was the Crest’s final refuge, the remnants of their government. Once, they ruled Whitiara, now they were left fighting for survival. The Smaugus had swept across the north, and now sought to land the killing blow.
For Blitzer, that was all the motivation needed to do what was asked, for now. Either go out with the green scarves, or get a trip back into the cell. What a dilemma that was. Bad and worse. Say one thing for the Crest, say they didn’t torture him for personal reasons. Then again, they did take his parents away. That seemed so grey and distant of a memory now, yet it pinched all the same if he stood still for long enough.
He’d do whatever menial errands were asked of him. He’d go to battle against the Smaugus, if need be: Thus far, his assignments consisted of peacekeeping and collecting litter.
But he would never put one of those scarves on. Ever. A naked neck in the winter was preferable.
The eighth night came and went. Morning nine began with a bell, followed by a Loudred. “UP AND AT ‘EM!” he shouted. You had a moment to wash your face and unring your ears, before you were expected outside. Blitzer jogged out the cabin, tail and wings bouncing in rhythm with his steps. There, in the camp’s centre, he got his orders from a bulletin board.. As usual, his name had been grouped with another: No one patrolled alone, after all.
The curious thing, however, is that groups tended to be bigger than two people. And it was reasonable to assume you weren’t getting a shift like that with someone you knew real well. Yet, Blitzer’s eyes didn’t deceive. Coldport group: Blitzer and Sefonia.
‘Sefonia? SEFONIA?!’
The Charizard damn near skipped his way from the camp towards the neighbourhood. He made it out of camp before remembering that his wings beat out his legs at travel. He skipped breakfast. Butterflies took up too much room.
Coldport was but a short flight away. He awaited Sefonia at the sign, shifting his balance from leg to leg. She’d arrive any moment. Any moment. Just a matter of time. One minute. Then five minutes. Ten minutes total. Fifteen minutes. Did breakfast take that long? Maybe he should’ve thought of that before. Twenty minutes.
An orange shape flew over the rooftops, then made its way to Northpoint’s front sign. She arrived on a clear sky, as if she repelled winter with her presence alone. Blitzer gulped. The Dragonite landed, frowning, looking the Charizard straight in the eye.
“Couldn’t have waited for a minute?”
‘Oh.’ He grimaced, his posture straight in the blink of an eye, his tail flopping straight down. After winter packed its bags, his excitement followed. “S-sorry, just-”
“Have you had breakfast yet?”
“N-no?”
The Dragonite put one of her claws on her forehead, her antennae shivering erratically. “So you just flew out here straight away, on an empty stomach, without a second thought. Did I get that right?”
Blitzer tried rolling his tongue up, on the off chance it would stop him from saying something stupid. Again. “Pretty much…?”
Sefonia sighed. “You’re not helping yourself here, you know.”
“Sorry.”
“Tell that to yourself. Anyway, let’s get you something to eat first. Did you receive a salary? Where is your money?”
“...Still in the cabin.”
Sefonia’s eyes narrowed. Blitzer’s heart skipped a beat. No money, no scarf, no nothing. If not for his weight, he would’ve looked homeless. And that’s what he presented his partner in crime with, all in the early hours of the morning.
“Yeah, let’s just go back to camp then, shall we? Get you fed properly,” Sefonia said, rolling her eyes. “That’s not an idea, by the way. That’s a demand. You’re going back with me.”
Blitzer’s heart sank. “Okay…” he muttered, sounding like a child in a Charizard’s body. Deep inside, he felt sore. ‘I haven’t seen her in forever, and this is how I greet her…’
The Dragonite led the way back to camp. She had far greater experience with her wings, leaving Blitzer scrambling to catch up. Though he thought he’d begun to get the hang of flying, the reality wasn’t quite so beautiful. His flying was less flying, and more a fight to stay airborne. At low speeds and distances, controlling himself remained challenging. Arceus knew he didn’t want to crash into someone. Or someone’s house. He didn’t know which was worse.
Back at camp, breakfast was served out of a soup kitchen. A hot stew, and some berries on the side. Enough vitamins and protein to get any grown Pokemon through the day. Variations on the meal were minor, especially now that most of it had been served already. Either you had meat, fish, or vegetables. Blitzer could only select one of the first two: supply of the latter had dwindled throughout the winter, and that meant the vegetarian Pokemon had priority. He opted for meat; Arceus alone knew what kind.
It didn’t taste good, and the conversation between Blitzer and Sefonia wasn’t flowing. She let him eat in peace; one thing that stood out as a result were her vapour, or lack thereof.
‘...Is she healed?’
After a mediocre meal, they flew back to Coldport’s front entrance, and got on with their tasks for the day. Being patrols, their task involved looking for anything suspicious in and around the port. Neither of them wore green scarves. For Blitzer, that was all a positive. They were still themselves at the end of the day, and not Crest stooges. Keeping the neighbourhood safe didn’t need any green scarves.
Finding the neighbourhood, on the other hand…
“Real quiet around here, huh,” whispered Sefonia, head spinning around about five streets in. They didn’t fly, but walk. They wanted to be as close to the locals while on patrol. But there wasn’t a Pokemon to be seen. Not in the street, not in the alley; not even a lost rodent feasting off crumbs. On occasion, a shadow passed behind a window, disappearing as fast as it arrived.
“Yeah…” Blitzer grumbled. “Where is everyone?” His voice was carried away by the wind, a naked tree’s branches creaking. Ahead were empty streets, the cobbles just warm enough to melt any snowflake that touched them, the gutters beside filled with piles from the season’s excess. To the unknowing eye, someone had gone through with a broom and swept it up. But no sweeping nor chatter filled the void.
One glance at the buildings revealed the full picture. Wet, frozen stone, flat and with little ornamentation to break up the greys. A window here and there, wooden beams that had seen better days, and no yards. No merchants advertising their wares, or any other activity, for that matter. As if all residents had packed their bags, then left in the dead of night.
Blitzer held his tail close by. “No one’s here to greet us, huh.”
Sefonia tucked her wings behind her back, antennae pitched down towards the street. “I’ve heard Coldport’s the rough part of town. Heard it used to be full of Pokemon who worked in the harbour, now that’s all gone,” she said, the claws on her feet gripping onto the cobbles.
“Is that so?” Blitzer said, spitting an ember into his claws to warm up. “How familiar are you with this place? Have you been here before?”
“Not really,” the Dragonite replied. “Think I’ve been up to Northpoint once or twice, no more. It’s always been a dreary town. Not much happens here. A lot of non Whitiaran folk, so the Smaugus were never fond of it. Never been to this part of town before.”
The Charizard grumbled, his head whipping towards every street they passed. “Odd that it would be this… empty, though. It can’t be because of the war, can it? It’s only been a few weeks since the Alliance…” He gulped. ‘Since the Alliance.’
Sefonia breathed in deep. “You’ll have to ask someone else,” she said. “Maybe they all found other work. Or they’ve gone into the army. Maybe it was always this shady. I don’t know.”
Blitzer sighed. “Yeah…”
The two dragons went about their task, stomping their way through the streets, onlookers’ disapproval be damned. In spite of first impressions, a few Pokemon did pop up throughout the streets. Most weren’t icelings, some looked fresh out of the Agate Province, even.
Then again, Blitzer and Sefonia didn’t fit the north’s image either, yet here they were. Two healthy dragons, shrugging the cold off their scales, walking through the streets without a care in the world. Strong, imposing, determined, and in Blitzer’s case, confident. The Charizard had a good six feet on the ground. Even though he was never a small boy, he couldn't help but grin a little, seeing doorframes he had to duck under. Some of the little hovel homes were inaccessible to him now. His tail was longer than they were wide!
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The butterflies in his stomach started flying again. Something about the added size satisfied on the primal level, the kind of satisfaction that lacked rational explanation. It wasn't the size alone: One look at his gut and arms revealed visible muscles. Sure, they were hard to see under the fat, but they were there. And he felt it with each step, each swing of his arms, each turn of his neck...
'Wow, I've gotten a lot stronger, haven't I?'
The Charizard rubbed between his eyes with his knuckles, then let go of a breath he'd been hanging onto. His evolution wasn't so bad, after all. It made him sturdy enough to resist Sefonia's elbows, which she now poked him with.
"What's so funny?" she asked, in a semi-serious tone that caught Blitzer off guard.
"Oh, err... it's nothing, honest."
"Is it? Now's not the time to joke around. Especially in a place like this."
Blitzer shot a glance at the soggy buildings, and grimaced his grin away. "O-of course not. Just... starting to feel comfortable in my body again, that's all."
"Mhm," Sefonia hummed. "Should've said that from the start. You had me worried, there."
"About what?"
"Either you seeing something and biting your tongue, or being too distracted. Maybe you overheard something funny today."
Blitzer blew a steamy breath out of his nostrils. "I haven't been in the mood for laughs in a while. You know why.".
Sefonia cracked up, then gave Blitzer a firm pat on the back. "Of course I know, don't worry. I've just been on edge lately, that's all. Sorry."
Blitzer turned his head towards her, putting on the best smile he had in him. She still had about half a head over him, but that didn't matter. He liked it, actually, especially now that the vapours weren't blocking her creamy orange scales any longer.
"Hah... say, what did they do with you? The shadows are all gone."
“Oh, they poured a lot of water, fire, and who knows what over me. Imagine having someone scrape the top of your scales off…” The Dragonite unfurled her wings, gave the surrounding streets a good lookover, then returned her attention to Blitzer. “...Actually, it wasn’t that big of a deal. Granted, it took a few hours to get it all out of my system, but the long and short of it? After the initial shock, it was annoying, more than anything.”
The Charizard pulled a sour face, his two largest fangs sticking out of his jaws. “That doesn’t sound pleasant at all. Sounds painful.”
She shrugged back. “Eh. I guess it was. If anything, what was happening on the inside was far more uncomfortable. For one, it felt like my skin wasn’t mine anymore. Second, and this sounds weird, I know, but it’s as if I was having nightmares while awake. Daymares, I guess.”
“Nightmares?”
“Yeah. Felt my whole life flash in front of me again. Parents, Chronos, ‘friends’, you showed up too. Saw glowy red eyes and a face I couldn’t see,” she explained. “The entire time, I heard a dull roar ringing between my ears. As if the Creator himself was speaking to my spirit. Or well, roaring at my spirit…”
Blitzer gulped. ‘This sounds awfully familiar…’ “What did he tell you?”
Sefonia shrugged. “That I was tearing my heart out of my back. And my friends’ hearts out of their backs… or chests. Straight out the throat. Didn’t like hearing it, but I’ve already accepted that they weren’t really my friends. One bad dream won’t change that. ”
“Are you sure?”
“Why wouldn’t I be? Being away from them gave me time to reflect back, study all the little situations, all the little interactions and handshakes and… friendship moments.” the Dragonite sighed. “It’s all been for nothing. If I wasn’t as strong as I was, no one would have cared.”
Blitzer looked away, a soft groan leaving his throat. ‘She’s really thought this one through, hasn’t she? Leaving everyone behind.’
All of a sudden, Sefonia leapt a big step ahead, getting right in front of Blitzer before spinning around. Surprised, he stopped right then and there. She raised her head over his, arms folded.
“But enough about that. We’ve been over this already, haven’t we? Why don’t you tell me what’s happened to you, mister?”
“Eh?” Blitzer blinked at her, his heart missing a beat. ‘What is she talking about?’
The Dragonite leaned forward, close enough for her breaths to land right on his nose. “Don’t play dumb now. Right after we got separated in the cathedral, what happened? You ended up in front of Dritch, you heard something about the stone you swallowed, then that squeaky Toucannon came in clacking his beak about me getting an exorcism. And then you just lost it. Sisu told me the whole story, it was the same thing as when we fled. What happened?”
The colour drained out of Blitzer’s face, much as it had been drained out of the surrounding buildings. He’d tried his damndest to forget about that moment over the past week, in spite of Dritch and Sisu asking him not to. Thinking about his monstrous outbursts drained him enough as was. Mega-evolving, they called it. Rapid fire, explosive growth through the body, followed by a loss of control. So it felt to him. He damn near cried himself to sleep before the transformation wore off a second time.
“I… don’t know what happened,” Blitzer said, his claws shielding his chest. “I lost my way again. The way he talked about you, it felt… no, it sounded like you were being tortured. And it got the best of me. That’s all I can say.”
Sefonia tilted her head. “Tortured? That… is quite the stretch. I mean, thanks for looking out for me, but it sounds like you just panicked.”
Blitzer reflexively clenched a fist. “He called it a rite. And that they were performing it on you… right after arriving, no less! I don’t know what I was supposed to imagine! Them cutting into you? Stabbing you? Brainwashing you?”
The Dragonite raised a claw before his face. “Relax, relax. It’s all in the past now, no need to be stressed over it any longer. It was all just one big understanding, but that apparently triggered your uh. Your transformation. Mega-evolution, I mean.”
The Charizard grimaced, looking defenceless in spite of how sharp his teeth looked. "It did." 'I lost control.'
"Do you have any idea why?"
"Not really... I can't think of anything... satisfying, if that makes sense."
"Hm..." Sefonia put a thumb and pointer claw under her chin. "Do you think it has anything to do with your emotions?"
"n-No?" Blitzer answered, feeling a lump sinking to the pit of his stomach. "What makes you say that?"
The Dragonite nervously licked at her upper jaw. “Well, both times you transformed, you were dealing with some really harsh emotions, right? Or at least, situations that made you really emotional. You said you became real angry when we escaped, right?”
“Mhm.” The Charizard nodded. “I thought they were going to kill you. And Sisu.”
Sefonia now leaned both claws against her nose. “And the second time, you thought I was being tortured upstairs. Isn’t that right?”
“Pretty much…?” Blitzer reeled in his tail. “So, what you’re saying is… uh… I panic, or something sudden and stressful happens, I lose it?”
“That’s the gist of it, yeah.”
“Right. I uh, I don’t know what to say about that, honestly.”
“You don’t need to,” the Dragonite said, turning her attention back to the streets; they hadn’t gotten any busier. “It’s only a theory, remember. We’re still trying to get to the bottom of what’s going on. And I do mean ‘we’, because I don’t want to see you suffer because of this. I know it’s scary. But you shouldn’t have to be scared of losing your mind. And if you’re still in control when it happens, then you shouldn’t have to feel fear at all.”
Blitzer got another pat on the back. “Thank you,” he said, his voice soft and in a higher pitch, the latter being on purpose. How serious could appreciation be when it’s growled?
Nevertheless,she got Blitzer thinking. Control. Did he truly lose it when he transformed, or was that a trick his mind played on him afterwards? Was it possible to ‘lose control’? That’s what was said about the Corrupted: Darkness had taken hold of them so thoroughly, that even their mind is no longer theirs. Their soul is lost in a dark inkwell. But was that the truth? How did one lose track of who they are, down to the thoughts?
As it turns out, an opportunity to find out might’ve presented itself. In the corner of his eye, hiding away in a thin alleyway, Blitzer spotted an inky black shape ducking into cover. He spun around in an instant, lashing Sefonia with his tail by accident. She raised her arms.
“Hey, watch it.”
“Look over there, did you see that?” Blitzer said, sniffing. He picked up the scent of chilly, feline fur. Though he didn't have the best view, he connected the scent to a Sneasel, the likes of which he’d passed several times in the city.
“No?” Sefonia answered after him, now sniffing the air as well. “Smells like Sneasel, but odd.”
Further sniffing, as well as tasting the air revealed a musk masking the scent. Dusty, yet chemical, like a jar of ink that had sat open on a desk for too long. The kind of musk that had hung around Sefonia like a cloak of misfortune.
“Anomaly,”
“Yeah.”
“Quick!”
Blitzer took off running, following the figure into the alley. He turned the corner just in time to watch it disappear, using a broken slat of wood for cover. Growling, he took off, sprinting in pursuit, keeping his tail straight and his wings tucked in. Overhead, Sefonia took to the sky, leaving a choppy breeze in her wake.
The Charizard kicked the walls with his feet to turn corners faster; fortunately, they were sturdy enough to support his weight, and no harm was done. Fears were confirmed moments later; an inky-black Sneasel made their way through the streets, a parchment impaled on its claws.
Fast on their feet, the intruder had caught on to their assailant. They looked over their shoulder once; for a split second, Blitzer saw fear in their eyes. No time to hesitate. That came before, and not after.
“EEEEEEEEK!”
Sneasel screeched as a second dragon touched down in front of them, a smug and determined grin plastered all over her snout. In a panic, they turned, and sprinted back… right into Blitzer’s waiting claws. Without a second thought, he pounced, grabbing the small little Pokemon by the arms and rolling to pin them on their side.
“Gotcha now!”
“Let me gooo! Let me go let me go let me go!!” Sneasel shouted, their voice resembling a young boy’s. Alas for him, the will of two dragons was hard to fight back against. Sefonia plucked the parchment off his claws, then held it up to read… all while keeping the Sneasel’s legs trapped under a foot.
“What do we have here…? Hoo boy, that’s some ugly claw writing. But you sure wrote a lot about the defences, huh? Where cannons are, how many Pokemon are guarding the port. What are you doing with this, mister?”
“Stooop!” Sneasel whined. Don’t eat me!”
“We’re not going to!” Blitzer said, trying and failing to keep the growl out of his voice. “Why are you doing this?”
Sneasel started bunny kicking, trying to scratch Blitzer’s chest. Though ineffective, Blitzer sucked it in and held back his feet, just in case. “Because… because that happens!! Big Pokemon eat little Pokemon! And I… I don’t wanna! Don’t wanna live in a world where that happens!”
Sefonia shook her head, her antennae drooping as she folded the parchment. “That’s what feral Pokemon do. We’re not feral, you look far more feral than we do.” She sighed. “Let’s get this kid out of here, Blitz.”
“Mhm,” Blitzer hummed, much to the boy’s displeasure.
They took the Anomalied kid to the guards in the harbour, who took it upon themselves to escort him to somewhere his illness could be cured. Blitzer groaned after they handed him off. It wasn’t enjoyable, but it had to be done.
‘Hope they can get the vapours out of him. Without any pain. That poor kid, he doesn’t deserve any of this… he’s kind of like me.’
The afternoon arrived shortly thereafter; as the days were once again getting longer, so too did the temperature become agreeable. With some luck, it would stop freezing in a week or two… for now, the temperature was just right to take a break outside a small shop. On the menu was a yoghurt of some kind, thick with a handful of sour berries. Given their size, their portions were large - a misfortune if you ended up not liking it.
‘Blegh…’
Blitzer forced the yoghurt mixture down his throat, loudly smacking and pulling a weary face after every swallow. The view distracted little from the taste, as empty docks and shipyards weren’t his cup of tea.
An actual cup of tea would do wonders, as a matter of fact.
“Strange, isn’t it.” Sefonia put her bowl down on the ground, licking up the yoghurt from her claws. “It’s not a weekend, or a holiday, yet no one’s in the port these days.”
Blitzer let a “wuuurgh” roll off his tongue. “The water’s all frozen. You can’t do much about that, can you?”
“Well, yeah, that too. I was thinking more about the war. And how everyone’s probably working on keeping the city safe.”
“Strange we even need boats, when waterlings exist.”
“There’s non-waterlings too.”
“True.”
They finished and returned the bowls, Blitzer looking vaguely nauseous as they paid. They agreed to split; same wage, same burdens, no need to make things complicated. It was time to get back on patrol; the Anomalies and criminals weren’t waiting on them. On the way, however, Blitzer remembered Sneasel's parchment, and immediately glanced to see if Sefonia still had it on her. She did not.
“Did you hand in the plans, too?”
“Yeah, of course I did. Could be important.”
The Charizard breathed a sigh of relief. “Phew. Thought we might have lost it, or something.”
“Mh-hm.” Sefonia shook her head. “I’m not clumsy. Wind isn’t going to take me out the sky, I’m too big for that!” She sighed. “Thing is… I think our trouble’s just begun.”
“What do you mean?” Blitzer asked, head tilted.
The Dragonite crossed her arms. “Where do I begin? For starters, the whole Smaugus is comin’ this way. And the Alliance is gonna be there, too, i imagine. Either that, or they’re gonna be busy elsewhere. Wherever Sisu’s come from. But there’s something… Okay, I really should’ve told you this earlier.”
Blitzer gulped. “What is it?”
Sefonia grimaced. “That… parchment. It had a name on it. And… I swear, I heard you mention it as well. Skal.”
“...Skal?”
Blitzer’s pupils shrank, as if they wanted to jump out of his eyeballs.